Is Smirnoff Ice Gluten-free?

Find out if Smirnoff Ice is gluten-free, if it’s safe for a gluten-free diet, and what you need to know about malt beverages.

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If you love relaxing after a long day with a drink in your hand, you might be a fan of Smirnoff Ice. If you like fruity drinks with a little bit of alcohol to enjoy on your back deck or to pack up for a weekend of camping, Smirnoff Ice seems like a great option.

However, if you follow a gluten-free diet, you know that every food and ingredient that goes into your body needs to be looked at with a careful eye. That includes all types of alcohol too.

That’s why we’re going to talk about a popular alcoholic drink in depth in this post: Smirnoff Ice.

Find out what Smirnoff Ice is, what it’s made from, and learn about malted beverages in relation to gluten. Find out if these drinks are gluten-free, and what your options are when it comes to enjoying drinks with similar flavors and options.

This post is part of the Gluten-free Alcohol Series, where we’re going to discuss different types of alcoholic drinks and how they fit into a gluten-free diet.

What is Smirnoff Ice?

Smirnoff Ice is an alcoholic beverage that’s made with malt. Smirnoff brand has a number of different “ready to drink” beverages, and Smirnoff Ice is one of them.

This drink is similar to what we know of as wine coolers or other stand alone alcoholic drinks, like beer or hard cider.

Smirnoff Ice comes in a variety of fruity flavors, and is a sweet drink that you’d enjoy if you don’t love the taste of beer or other alcoholic beverages. These taste more like juice than alcohol, which some people really enjoy.

What is Smirnoff Ice made from?

Smirnoff Ice is made differently in the US as it is in other countries. In the United States, this drink is made with malt as the alcohol base. In other countries, vodka is used in this beverage.

The alcohol is mixed with other fruit flavors and sugar to make their signature drink. Depending on the flavor, different ingredients and colorings may be used.

What is gluten?

Gluten is a protein found in most wheat products, and acts as the “glue” that helps to hold wheat, barley, kamut, spelt, farro, durum, bulgur, rye, and semolina together to maintain their shape.

Gluten is naturally occurring, and therefore is impossible to strip away from the grain. If a grain naturally has gluten in it, there’s no way to make that food gluten-free.

Is malt gluten?

Malt is used in many different types of alcoholic beverages, and you may be wondering what malt is and how it fits in with a gluten-free diet.

Malt is derived from barley, which is a gluten-containing grain. You can find this ingredient in a number of foods, like malted milk, candy, and yes, even beer.

In some alcoholic beverages, like whiskey or bourbon, the malt or malted barley is later distilled, making the drink safe for a gluten-free diet.

However, in beer or malt beverages, like Smirnoff Ice, the processing doesn’t involve distillation and the gluten remains in the product.

Do malt beverages contain gluten?

Since malt beverages aren’t distilled like other types of alcohol that contain malt barley, like whiskey, bourbon, or Scotch, this type of alcoholic drink does contain gluten.

Read on: Is barley gluten-free?

Smirnoff Ice contains gluten in the US, and shouldn’t be included in your gluten-free diet. This drink contains malt which is an ingredient derived from barley, a gluten-containing grain.

If you live in Canada, Smirnoff Ice is manufactured using vodka instead of malt, making this a safe choice for a gluten-free diet.

Other Smirnoff Ready to Drink beverages, like their Smirnoff Ice Smash, Smirnoff Seltzer, and Smirnoff Sourced also contain malt and gluten. Avoid these on your gluten-free diet as well.

Is Smirnoff vodka gluten-free?

The classic Smirnoff vodka that is pure and distilled is made from corn, making it gluten-free. Smirnoff has flavored vodkas and these may not all be gluten-free.

All their flavors on their website, except for tamarind and including the Sours flavors, are noted as gluten-free as well.

Read on: Is Smirnoff gluten-free?

Read on: Gluten-free vodka

Smirnoff Ice Alternatives

If you love Smirnoff Ice and are looking for another option, try hard cider, wine, or a Smirnoff flavored vodka mixed with fruit juice. Their website notes that all flavors of their vodka except Pink Lemonade are gluten-free.

You might also opt for a hard seltzer. Click here to find out which brands of hard seltzer are gluten-free: Is hard seltzer gluten-free?

Read on: Is wine gluten-free?

Read on: Is cider gluten-free?

If you like drinking Smirnoff Ice at the end of a long day or to pack up for a barbecue at a friend’s house, you might want to skip this option if you’re following a gluten-free diet. Choose an alternative that’s gluten-free and save yourself the stomach ache later.

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